Spot The Speculators #82 – “They are “borrowing” wedding rings until they can afford to buy real ones as they are maxed out on their HELOC’s. When I asked them why they don’t sell the condo or apartment I was told they need them to keep going up in value.”

“My sister is getting married and planning their wedding. With a house and apartment in Vancouver and a condo at Whistler you would think they were flush but no… The entire wedding is on their line of credit and they are “borrowing” wedding rings until they can afford to buy real ones as they are maxed on what they can get on their HELOC’s. When I asked them why they don’t sell the condo or apartment I was told they need them to keep going up in value. I’ve given up giving guidance anymore but felt chills when I realized that they need the places to go up in value so they can increase their credit lines to maintain their current lifestyle….god forbid what will happen to them if (when) the value declines.”
– ChemGuy at VREAA 5 Apr 2012 1:30pm

42 responses to “Spot The Speculators #82 – “They are “borrowing” wedding rings until they can afford to buy real ones as they are maxed out on their HELOC’s. When I asked them why they don’t sell the condo or apartment I was told they need them to keep going up in value.””

Carney and Flaherty used the “turbo” bonus, and now leading in MarioKart, they, and we, actually have to start driving. I do think the dudes recognize it was a temporary thing.

I still believe low rates are no free lunch. I find it fascinating that so many of the articles and editorials published in Canada are affixed on the notion that it will be higher rates that will kill Canada’s overburdened housing sector. I disagree it is a necessary condition, and back it up with no relevant higher degree to speak of. That should be enough.

No worries… just ‘FlipThatPlot’… for, as it happens, DeadOrAlive – when it comes to YVR – there’s no escaping the ‘market’ (albeit, on the BrighterSide, current residents of ShaughnessyMausoleums who get in on the ‘PreSales’ will feel right at home)…

Quote of TheDay!

“If you want to be in Vancouver, which a lot of people do, we’re the only option.” – Mountain View Cemetary Manager Glen Hodges

[G&M] – In Vancouver, real estate to die for

“It’s some of the hottest real estate in one of Vancouver’s most in-demand neighbourhoods, and it’s up for sale for the first time in nearly a quarter century.”…

…”Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, a rival agency, says: “The wave of money that has been flowing into London property over the past three years has been supercharged by one key theme – political risk. The world’s wealthy, especially in emerging markets, are nervous about arbitrary rule and policy change in their home countries and how this might affect their ability to protect their wealth. So they are moving money, and increasingly their families, to more stable environments. These house purchases are effectively triple A-rated bond investments – which happen to have a London address on them.”

If homes that were once just well-located bricks and mortar have morphed into something more akin to a reserve currency, that creates a big distortion to the residential upper tier.

However, Mr Bailey is among a growing band of property experts suggesting that London’s prime market – the top 5 per cent of the housing stock by price – is barely at the start of a sustained rally, underpinned by increasing uncertainty elsewhere in the world and the resulting push towards personal wealth preservation.”….

*Take a ‘miniature’ from the cart, lean in to your SeatMate… HoldHands… Give each other a TrulyLong Deep’Frenchie’ (LastChanceSaloon – GenderBeDamned) …CrossYourFingers… &Remember… The ReallyImportantStuff…

Yeah. I swore like hell that day too. Could not believe it was such a stupid mistake. Same as pumping up the countries home values to boost the economy but watching instead at lift-off only to see it all burst into flames.

Speaking of Whistler, at the last family dinner, my sister in law was moaning about the latest rental numbers from her Whistler condo-apparently they are horrible for the first 6 months of the year. I don’t know why she even bothers, they’ve never made a dime on this so-called “investment”. By my estimation, they’ve lost about $100k in the past 10 years. Right now, the condo’s only worth what they paid for it (ten years ago). I expect it to keep going down. Negative equity IS happening in BC, despite what global news tells us-I know someone in Kelowna who has a condo she bought for around $250k, is now worth $165k. The mortgage is still well over $240k (she refinanced, didn’t put down much, and the CMHC fee added to the mortgage as well). I don’t know why Global TV keeps flaunting real estate-what about the stories from the rest of the province where people are clearly pessimistic about real estate? My last visit to the Okanagan, I had people tell me things like “I couldn’t sell it today for what I paid for it” and “The house is worth $100k less than what it was a year and a half ago”. I don’t know why Global TV keeps acting like real estate’s such a hot commodity, when clearly the rest of the province is in the dumps. Guess they want to keep that part a secret so people continue to buy buy buy in Vancouver! (sorry, a bit off topic)

apparently somewhere in the book of mormon is written thou shalt be hothttp://www.hotmormons.net/default.htm
i am conducting a personal experiment to see if its the abstinence. leave you to appreciate the mild ironies of this related number i found
it’s just nice to know the world isn’t full of seriosos. now if someone could tie this thread back to the topic at hand, i can be absolved. ciao.

OK, maybe I can add a song to the growing list here. Not my usual style but here is Don Ho, singing “Tiny Bubbles”. It is the classic bubble song. You know, bubbles are great if you can just contain them to beer, wine and champagne!

It’s hot stat, i agree. When people begin to reduce their debt they are saying there isn’t anything worth investing. Banks know this acutely, and will raise interest rates accordingly. I hammered my personal debt down by 38% in the last week of March to drive it home… Is there anything worth investing in without assuming substantial downside risk, including precious metals? I don’t think there is.

I have no debt and am sick and tired of constantly subsidizing (and by corrollary, encouraging) these status seeking mathematically illiterate fools against my will through government sibsidies and zero interest rates. All the bragging and “advice” that I have had to tolerate for the last half decade will be moot when the foreclosure wave starts rolling. I can’t wait. Borrow all you want. buy Buy BUY!… Idiots.

If you are mad at them now, Ridiculous, then you will be furious after they lose their houses to a foreclosure and start competing against you for the best rentals with the same entitled attitude that wrecked the economy in the first place.

Renters will subsidize home-owners through taxation, subsidy and various transfer payments thus ensuring the losses of those who were wasteful and profligate are never fully crystallized while gaining no absolute benefit for themselves.

Happily you seem to have appreciated my frustration expressed in the last line of my prior comment, Jesse. I think it is just rotten that those who were behaving in a fiscally prudent way, saving and investing, will now bear more of the weight of the downfall than those who acted foolishly and in haste.

@Farmer, I think that those who acted “foolishly and in haste” (the “grasshoppers”) will end up with, in net, a larger burden than the “ants”. This was certainly true in the US — there simply wasn’t enough $ to make a massive dent in the debt burdens of overextended homeowners even though more than a few cramdowns and bailouts have been used. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but I do recall reading that most (not all) of the deleveraging to date has been borne by the debt holders and not by the taxpayers.

The ants will end up giving up some of their savings for sure, (and we are already — look at negative real rates!) but it’s likely less than the average grasshopper. And yes a few grasshoppers will get away with it. Life’s not fair but hey still better an ant, so goes the fable.

Speaking of which….since we are now at the top of the asset cycle in this country it is a good time to consider unloading anything that would serve you better as cash in the bank. Waiting until later will just yield lesser and lesser amounts over time. Especially as housing deflates. Examples are Motorhomes, second cars, the antique that you just know is worth a fortune and any resort getaways or Timeshares. Consumers are already stretched but still “feel” wealthy as the correction has not become obvious to the general public yet. Imagine how much poorer they will feel as housing prices decline and job losses begin to mount. You get the point. For all things there is a season and this is the season to get rid of assets that could potentially see steep declines in the coming months and years……or you could do like most other people. Hold on and sell at the bottom when you really, really need the extra cash.